Sponsor
Rick W. Allen
Representative · R-GA
Representative · R-GA
The bill expands school-based mental-health access and telehealth capacity—potentially improving timely care and crisis response for students—but raises privacy risks, equity and implementation gaps for rural/under-resourced districts, and funding/administrative trade-offs for schools.
Students will gain expanded, timely access to school-based mental health care—including telehealth, coordinated services, and strengthened emergency/crisis response—improving early treatment and school safety.
Schools and districts can invest in technology and telehealth infrastructure without local-use limits, enabling platforms and connectivity upgrades that support remote mental-health delivery.
Encouraging coordination with local health agencies should increase referrals and follow-up care for students with mental-health needs, strengthening linkages to community services.
Expanding telehealth and digital mental-health tools increases student data privacy and security risks if proper safeguards are not in place, potentially exposing sensitive health information.
Rural and under-resourced districts may face staffing, broadband, and capacity barriers that prevent meaningful implementation, producing uneven access and widening equity gaps.
Providing the required technology and expanded services may require additional spending or reallocation of Title IV funds, reducing resources available for other school programs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands allowable Title IV uses to fund student mental health services, coordination with health agencies, telehealth, and related technology; requires LEA applications to describe mental health uses when applicable.
Official title: To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve mental health services for students, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Rick W. Allen · Last progress February 27, 2025
Expands how federal K–12 education funds may be used to support student mental health by allowing states and local education agencies to use certain Title IV funds for mental health services, coordination with health agencies, mental health first-aid best practices, emergency planning/response teams, telehealth, and technology that improves mental health services. Requires local applications to describe planned uses of funds for mental health supports when applicable and creates an exception so technology used for mental health can be funded even if it would otherwise run into a local-usage restriction.